Looking back with Richard Kishore

Richard Kishore leads his band

'What would I do without this instrument?' laughs Richard Kishore as he gets out of his reverie momentarily. 'The guitar is probably my best friend. I am at complete ease, when I play it.'

Kishore was born in a music-oriented family. Both his parents were musicians, besides being professional bankers. His father Leo Serrao was a prominent football player of Dhaka premier division league in the '50s, while his mother Martina Serrao was an officer at the Sonali Bank.

'We had all sorts of instruments at home. During weekends, both my brothers would go out and play football with my father. I was more the homely type, very close to my mother, and would spend most of my weekends with her, playing all kinds of instruments to pass my time,' recalls Kishore.

Richard's musical career began as a junior choir member in the Ramna Cathedral in Dhaka. While he was at school, Kishore took his first guitar lessons under Rev. James Bynas of Notre Dame College. 'Father Bynas not only taught me to play the guitar, he also taught me to write and understand western musical notes, which very few musicians in Bangladesh can claim to do,' says Richard.

He also received training in Indian classical music and Nazrul Geeti from the Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts (BAFA) as well as Altaf Mahmud Sangeet Niketon for five years. 'I was a very quiet child back then and did not bother to tell my friends at BAFA that I could play the guitar. We went for a school picnic one day, where I took along my guitar.. I strummed along with my friends who were singing and having fun. That was when I suddenly became the star of the day and my peers got to know about my passion for the guitar; they would not quit following me around asking questions,' chuckles Kishore at the memory.

The eminent music personality Samar Das also had a important role in shaping Kishore's career. Das nurtured Kishore in every way to become a skillful guitarist and also a successful music director, 'In fact, he was the one, who first asked me to sing in church,' says Kishore.

Kishore is now amongst one of the best guitarist and a music director on BTV. Besides performing regularly with the prominent vocal performers in Bangladesh at various state and private functions, Kishore has also directed music for a number of solo albums. He has also worked with several internationally celebrated artistes, namely Jagjit Singh, Ustad Gulam Ali Khan, Parveen Ali, Hari Haran and others.

'I am happy with what I am today,' smiles Richard Kishore. 'We have a son, Salty, and want him to grow up into someone interesting in society. Money is not the only consideration for me. I enjoy playing and working with other musicians when filled with passion; creating music of my liking,' says a smiling Kishore.